Climate change is arguably the biggest single threat facing mankind and the planet. It is easy, and very normal, to feel totally overwhelmed by the scale of the problem and think that others, like Governments, Big Business or the UN, are going to sort this out. While they may try, it is going to be up to all of us to take responsibility for this issue and tackle it head-on.

‘Think globally, act locally’ is a grass roots motto for taking action on climate change, Low Carbon Hook Norton is a group of village residents trying to do just that. We have set out to actively reduce the amount of energy we use in our homes and travel, which as well as helping with climate change has had big benefits on our wallets.

Having started this process we are now interested in talking to the wider community about how we see our village evolving in the next 10–15 years. We want to create a collective vision for Hook Norton in 2020. Over that time our planet, country and community are going to undergo some big changes as energy prices rise possibly by 200–400%. They have doubled in the last 4 years and we could end up with an average household energy bill of around £4000 per year. This is a problem that will not go away by ignoring it and we want to start thinking about how our village can change to accommodate this huge change so that a child starting school this year has a strong community to be a part of by the time they leave secondary school.

We meet up every couple of months to share ideas on what we can do as individuals and as a community to counter climate change. With its local shop, school and businesses, Hook Norton is ideally placed to be a very sustainable place to live. Already the school, with its Green Flag status, which it earned by taking steps to reduce its carbon emissions, water use and waste production, is leading the way but it is up to all of us to get involved.

So far we a have achieved a number of key successes over the last year including the following:

• Established a baseline of our members’ individual carbon emissions through a simple questionnaire. Now we know what we emit we can see exactly how big any savings we make are.

• Members of Low Carbon Hook Norton (LCHN) have borrowed one of the two portable energy monitors to try to trim their electrical consumption at home, with some eye-opening results.

• Hook Norton has become a plastic bag free zone, an initiative led by the key businesses in the village, including the Post Office, the Village Shop and the Brewery.

• 12 members of LCHN have been part of a pilot for a new National Government programme called the Home Action Plan. A trained energy assessor visited each of our homes and gave us a personalised action plan for the main ways to reduce our emissions and save money. We have started to act on these suggestions and through feedback we made as an active community the National programme is being revised, ready to be rolled out.

• We are one of only two pilot schemes for the government-funded ‘Green Neighbourhood Scheme’ which helps communities with ‘difficult to treat’ houses to reduce their energy usage by means of insulation and more efficient and sustainable heating systems. The houses in the scheme will be fitted with smart metering systems to allow hourly monitoring of electricity, oil and water usage. Cherwell DC has teamed up with the Energy Saving Trust to offer free home energy reports for local residents. This isn't quite the same as the Home Action Plan, but it may give you an idea of what you can do to save some energy. You may get a leaflet through the post, but you can also do it online at www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/check

Through our participation in the Home Action Plan we have identified the measures that have the greatest impact in reducing the energy use of a typical Hook Norton home:

• Changing incandescent light bulbs to low-energy versions

• Turning down the central heating by a couple of degrees

• Using smart driving tips to use less fuel

• Changing pre-2000 boilers to more efficient oil condensing boilers

• Increasing the amount of loft insulation to 270mm

• Cavity wall insulation for newer houses and solid wall insulation for older ironstone houses

• Solar thermal panels to heat hot water

• Double glazing or secondary double glazing

So if you would like to take some practical steps on climate change, our next meeting will be shown on the Village Diary. If you are thinking of doing building work, then contact us to discuss suitable energy-efficient practices.

Contact Tim Lunel on 730446 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it